The present invention relates to improvement of a vanity case, and more particularly to improvement of a latch-unlatch mechanism for a vanity case in which a case body and a cover member are coupled through a connection between the hinge parts provided at the rear end of the cover member and the recess formed at the rear end of the case body.
In known vanity cases of the abovesaid type, the cover member and case body have a hook-shaped protrusion on the respective forward edge or other appropriate positions, which is generally molded in an integral unit with the cover member or the case body. An elastic engagement and a release of engagement between these protrusions perform the latching-unlatching of the cover member with respect to the case body. In this case, however, in order to release the engagement of the protrusions, which is carried out by finger operation of user, it is required to provide a finger-operation recess on the outer surface of either the case body or the cover member. Such a need of provision of the recess anywhere on the outer surface of the vanity case is a great disadvantage for improving the aesthetic effect in the design of the case. In addition, the latching-unlatching system with the abovesaid construction should have a relatively high accuracy in dimension for obtaining a smooth engagement and disengagement between the protrusions. As a consequence, quite a number of vanity cases are rejected as defective owing to improper engagement, and a low yield is one of the greatest troubles in the production.
In the circumstances, improved vanity cases have been proposed which are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,893 and 4,331,168. Such vanity case is provided with a slide member in the vicinity of the protrusion of either the case body or the cover member and, by pressing the slide member, the cover is so forced as to separate from the case body whereby the engagement between both protrusions can be released. With this construction, some dimensional error can be allowed. However, this improvement is not free from defects, either. One of the defects is that since the slide member is designed to insert into a cavity slederly extending in the longitudinal direction, a shaking is likely to occur during a long use. Another defect is that since the protrusions and slide member are arranged on relatively noticeable places, an improvement in design cannot be expected satisfactorily. Further, it is also considered to be unsatisfactory that the protrusions are still necessary and the latch-unlatch mechanism must rely on elasticity of the protrusions.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case which is free from all the above defects and can permit various kinds of improvements in design by moving the cover member latching-unlatching system from the places exposed to eyes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case in which elastic protrusions are no longer necessary to be provided for holding a cover member in a closed position relative to a case body, thus permitting dimentional error to some extent.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case which is reliable and simple in operation, for example, it can be operated by one touch of a slide member.